Swan Lake | |
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Choreographed by | Julius Reisinger |
Composed by | Tchaikovsky |
Libretto by | Vladimir Petrovich Begitchev Vasily Geltzer |
Based on | German fairy tale |
Date of premiere | 4 March 1877 |
Place of premiere | Bolshoi Theatre Moscow |
Original ballet company | Bolshoi Ballet |
Characters | Odette Prince Siegfried Queen Mother Von Rothbart Odile |
Designs by | Karl Valts (Acts 2 & 4) Ivan Shangin (Act 1) Karl Groppius (Act 3) |
Setting | Germany Fairy tale times |
Created for | Pauline Karpakova and the Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow |
Genre | Fairy tale |
Type | Romantic ballet |
Swan Lake is a romantic ballet in four acts. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote the music. In 1871 he wrote a little ballet about swans for his nieces and nephews. He used some of the music from this ballet for Swan Lake. The story of the ballet is based on a German fairy tale. This tale was probably tweaked by Tchaikovsky and his friends during the ballet's early discussion stages.